The present invention relates to an automatic set-up system for a flexible manufacturing system (to be referred to as an FMS hereinafter) and, more particularly, to a fully automatic set-up system for automatically performing set-up operations such as loading work on a pallet, cleaning processed work and the pallet, and unloading processed work from the pallet.
In a mechanical manufacturing line to which an FMS is applied, a predetermined work is selected from works which have different sizes and shapes and which are stored in an automated warehouse. The selected work is placed and fixed by the set-up system on a pallet. The work on the pallet is conveyed by an unmanned vehicle or conveyer to a machining line having a plurality of automated machine tools. The work which is subjected to predetermined machining by means of a predetermined machine tool is returned by the unmanned vehicle to the set-up system. Chips and dust are removed from the work, and the work is removed from the pallet. The finished work is stacked in the automated warehouse, and new work is loaded on the pallet.
In the conventional FMS, feeding the work between the set-up system and the machining line, and loading/unloading of the pallet having the work thereon (with respect to the machine tool line) can be automated. However, the set-up operations (e.g., loading/unloading) with respect to the pallet must be manually performed since the work itself has different shapes and sizes. In an FMS for small scale production of a variety of items, the structure, shape and size of the work variously changes, and many types of clamp jigs for fixing the work on the pallets is required. It is therefore impossible to precisely load different work at the predetermined positions of the pallet at a low cost in accordance with the conventional robot techniques. As a result, the set-up operations cannot be automated. Yet, manual set-up operations are cumbersome, time-consuming and result in inefficiency. As a result, the utilization efficiency of the machine tools is degraded. The chips and dust must also be removed from the work and the pallet manually by spraying with compressed air. In this manner, manual set-up operations result in the inefficiency of the production process and present problems of safety and reliablity.